--- title: "Outsourced bookkeeping for restaurants & hospitality" description: "Outsourced bookkeeping for restaurants & hospitality: dedicated remote bookkeepers categorise, reconcile and close your books in QuickBooks Online, Xero." url: https://ledgerbpo.com/industries/restaurants/bookkeeping/ updated: 2026-09-11 publisher: LedgerBPO (SS Support Network LLC) language: en-US --- # Outsourced bookkeeping for restaurants & hospitality Outsourced bookkeeping for restaurants & hospitality begins with the end-of-day report. Toast, Square or Restaurant365 records gross sales by category, sales tax, tips and tenders, and the bank records something different: card batches one to two days later net of fees, cash deposits when a manager gets to the bank, and delivery payouts weekly net of commission. - Since 2020 - US · UK · CA · AU - Named accountant plus backup - Your software, no lock-in [Get a custom quote](https://ledgerbpo.com/get-a-quote/) [Book a 20-minute call](https://ledgerbpo.com/book-a-call/) Updated September 2026 ## How it runs for restaurants and hospitality businesses Your named accountant posts a daily sales journal by location, clears every tender through its own clearing account, records delivery platforms gross, holds tips and tax as liabilities, codes food, beverage and supply invoices by category, and books payroll by department. Every account is reconciled and reviewed before the P&L is issued. ## What is outsourced bookkeeping? Outsourced bookkeeping means a remote accounting team records, categorizes and reconciles your business transactions instead of an employee doing it in-house. You keep ownership of the accounting file and the bank relationship. The provider works inside your software on a fixed schedule, so the books are ready for reporting, tax and lending whenever you need them. ## What we handle for restaurants and hospitality businesses - Post the daily sales journal by location from the Toast or Square end-of-day report - Clear card, cash, gift-card and delivery tenders through separate clearing accounts - Record DoorDash, Uber Eats and Grubhub at gross with commissions on their own lines - Code food, beverage, paper and chemical invoices by category as they arrive - Hold tips, sales tax and gift-card balances as liabilities until settled ## The KPI that matters here Books closed by the fifth business day with every day's Z-report tied to deposits by tender and location. ## Restaurants compliance notes ### Tip reporting and tip credits Employees must report cash and card tips to the employer, the employer withholds payroll taxes on reported tips, and large food and beverage establishments file Form 8027 annually. Where the restaurant takes a tip credit against minimum wage under the FLSA, the wage records must show that tips brought each employee to the full minimum. We reconcile POS tips to payroll and keep the workpapers; your payroll provider and CPA handle filings. ### Sales tax and local meal taxes Restaurant sales are taxable in most US states, many cities and counties add a meal or hospitality tax, and rules differ for catering, delivery, alcohol and service charges. We reconcile tax collected in the POS to the ledger by jurisdiction each month, prepare the workings for your filing, and flag rate changes or new locations so nothing is missed. ### Daily cash and deposit controls Cash-heavy service creates the need for a daily cash count, a deposit log and a documented over-and-short account. We reconcile the counted cash per shift to the POS cash tender, match deposits to the log, and report over-and-short by location and manager so problems surface within days rather than at year-end. ### Alcohol, franchise and lease reporting Liquor license reporting, franchisor royalty and marketing-fund reports based on gross sales, and percentage-rent clauses in leases all depend on POS sales figures that tie to the ledger. We prepare the sales schedules these reports need from reconciled numbers and keep the supporting Z-reports on file. ## Restaurants software we work in - [Square](https://ledgerbpo.com/software/square/) - [QuickBooks Online](https://ledgerbpo.com/software/quickbooks-online/) - [Xero](https://ledgerbpo.com/software/xero/) - [Gusto](https://ledgerbpo.com/software/gusto/) - [Bill.com](https://ledgerbpo.com/software/bill-com/) - Toast - Restaurant365 - MarginEdge - 7shifts - [All 50 platforms](https://ledgerbpo.com/software/) ## More for restaurants and hospitality businesses Other services for restaurants - [Invoicing and billing](https://ledgerbpo.com/industries/restaurants/invoicing-and-billing/) - [Accounts receivable](https://ledgerbpo.com/industries/restaurants/accounts-receivable/) - [Accounts payable](https://ledgerbpo.com/industries/restaurants/accounts-payable/) - [Bank reconciliation](https://ledgerbpo.com/industries/restaurants/bank-reconciliation/) - [Month-end close](https://ledgerbpo.com/industries/restaurants/month-end-close/) - [Financial reporting](https://ledgerbpo.com/industries/restaurants/financial-reporting/) - [All restaurants services](https://ledgerbpo.com/industries/restaurants/) Bookkeeping in other industries - [Marketing agencies & consultancies](https://ledgerbpo.com/industries/agencies/bookkeeping/) - [Auto repair shops & dealerships](https://ledgerbpo.com/industries/auto/bookkeeping/) - [Behavioral health practices](https://ledgerbpo.com/industries/behavioral-health/bookkeeping/) - [Daycares, schools & education](https://ledgerbpo.com/industries/childcare-education/bookkeeping/) - [The full bookkeeping page](https://ledgerbpo.com/services/bookkeeping/) ## Frequently asked questions ### Why post a daily sales journal instead of using bank feeds? Because a bank deposit is a net figure that combines several days, subtracts processing fees, and says nothing about sales tax, tips, comps or category mix. Bank feeds alone understate sales, bury fees in revenue and make food cost as a percent of sales meaningless. Posting from the Z-report and clearing each tender identifies missing deposits and cash shortages while they are fresh. ### How should comps, discounts and voids be recorded? Comps and manager discounts are recorded as a reduction from gross sales on their own line, by reason where the POS captures it, so the owner can see promotional cost and manager behavior. Voids before payment are excluded from sales entirely. Employee meals are recorded as a labor-related cost rather than a discount. Keeping these separate keeps net sales and food cost honest. ### What do you need from the restaurant each month? Report access to your POS, accountant access to QuickBooks Online, Xero or Restaurant365, read-only bank and card feeds, delivery-platform statement access, the payroll register, weekly inventory counts if you want weekly food cost, and a shared inbox for vendor invoices. We send a short weekly list of open items, such as an unmatched deposit or a missing produce invoice. Next step ## Books closed. Invoices paid. Every month. Tell us what is going on with your books or billing. You will hear from a named person within 1 business day, with a custom quote and a plan for the first close. - Reply from a named person within 1 business day - No setup fee, month-to-month - Your software, your data, no lock-in Start with a custom quote [Get a custom quote](https://ledgerbpo.com/get-a-quote/) [Book a 20-minute call](https://ledgerbpo.com/book-a-call/) Or call [+1-657-777-0006](tel:+16577770006) during US, UK or Australian business hours. --- Source: https://ledgerbpo.com/industries/restaurants/bookkeeping/ · Contact: https://ledgerbpo.com/contact/ · Full site map for agents: https://ledgerbpo.com/llms.txt